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"My mother is of the Uruba people of Nigeria, and they have a proverb," says Osagie O. Imasogie, vice president and director of GSK Ventures. "It is: A crumb from an elephant's meal is a feast for an ant." Imasogie GSK PHOTO That, Imasogie says, is exactly the idea behind GSK Ventures, a three-year-old business at GlaxoSmithKline that invests shelved intellectual property (IP) in biotechnology start-ups. The proverb is appropriate, given that GSK spends about $4 billion on research and development with a project attrition rate in line with the drug industry standard of about 90%. The idea behind GSK Ventures is to find viable projects that the pharmaceutical giant has pushed aside and invest the IP in start-up companies. "Let's say the project is too small for us," Imasogie says. "We can find a company for whom it would be a huge opportunity and that would be willing to spend the time and effort on developing it. We are paid in equity, so if the company is successful, we can expect capital appreciation in our equity stake just like any other investor." To date, GSK Ventures has made 23 investments, including IP associated with compounds, technology platforms, libraries, and patents. Although Imasogie won't disclose returns, he says there have been several successes. |
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